'The Morning Show' creative team takes a Closer Look at the iconic Apple TV+ show and talks about their favorite moments, characters and that ending of the third season.
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00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 - Thank you for joining us for THR's Closer Look Live.
00:06 I'm gonna throw out a question for everybody to answer.
00:08 We can kind of go down this row.
00:10 And when you answer, if you could also introduce yourself
00:12 and your role on the show.
00:14 But the first thing I'd love to know is
00:16 what were you most excited to see on screen,
00:19 the final products of this season?
00:22 Something you wrote, something you pitched,
00:24 something you designed?
00:25 Maybe if you wanna start.
00:27 - Hi, I'm Charlotte Stout, I'm the showrunner.
00:30 (audience applauding)
00:33 I just wanna say first, it's really thrilling
00:35 to watch the show with an audience.
00:38 Like it's not the finale until people see it.
00:42 So it actually means a tremendous amount to us
00:45 to see it with you.
00:46 'Cause you know, you sit in an editing bay
00:47 and the VFX isn't done and you know, the ADR and all that.
00:51 But it's really, it's actually, it's really moving.
00:53 I feel, I'm all choked up.
00:56 I guess just because I saw it for me,
00:58 the moment when the two women embrace that we just saw,
01:03 they both give each other something in the scene.
01:05 They say, we have to part now,
01:07 but I'm gonna take a piece of you with me
01:10 and we're gonna be on different journeys,
01:12 but you know, I have you.
01:14 So I like that idea.
01:17 'Cause I do think fundamentally the show is a love story.
01:19 So.
01:20 - Me? - Yeah.
01:23 Mimi Leder, director.
01:25 Executive producer.
01:28 There's so many moments I love.
01:31 You know, I love Chip's rant.
01:34 And I love that you all loved it.
01:36 And it was really fun to shoot.
01:39 And I really love Billy's response.
01:43 You know, that he'd rather be with the Oath Keepers
01:47 than give a penny to Paul Marks.
01:50 And that was just very fulfilling.
01:51 But the most, the thing I love the most
01:53 is the last couple, few shots,
01:56 where the women are walking into their future
02:00 and speaking their truth.
02:02 It was simple and I felt elegant
02:06 and it just felt honest.
02:10 And I loved it.
02:11 - Those are the right answers.
02:15 Michael Ellenberg, executive producer.
02:19 - Just in terms of what we all experienced making the show.
02:22 'Cause there was also, when you,
02:23 and especially seeing on the big screen,
02:25 but that day, this show is deeply personal
02:27 to everyone who works on it, everyone on the stage,
02:30 those two actresses in particular.
02:32 And so when you get to the end of it,
02:33 it's an emotional rollercoaster for viewers
02:37 and definitely for us as filmmakers making it.
02:40 And so the vibe that day of filming that scene
02:43 was just awesome.
02:44 It was intense, there was a lot of crying.
02:46 Everyone kind of goes method by the end of the show
02:49 for better or worse.
02:50 But I think for better.
02:51 And then when you watch that scene
02:52 and you're in, when the first cut came in
02:55 and you're like, oh shit, it fucking, excuse me.
02:57 It works.
02:58 - You can say that. - 10,000.
02:59 (laughing)
03:02 - It's just kind of what the thrill and joy
03:03 of working on the show is.
03:04 So, yeah.
03:06 - Awesome, hi, I'm Kristen Hahn,
03:08 also an executive producer.
03:09 It takes at least many of us to make a show.
03:13 There's so many things I'm excited about this season.
03:16 I literally just got so emotional sitting back there.
03:20 This is the first time I've seen the show with an audience.
03:22 I think for a lot of us, it's just, yeah.
03:25 It's so gratifying, thank you for being here.
03:28 And I think the thing that I was most excited about
03:31 in the early days of conversations that we all had,
03:34 just thinking about Jen's character, Alex,
03:36 was bringing in a new Alex who had survived COVID,
03:40 sort of survived death, survived cancel culture,
03:42 and was kind of a Phoenix rising into a new self
03:46 that would be less curated,
03:48 somebody who was more raw and vulnerable.
03:51 And I love the aspect of our show that looks at power
03:55 and how power works in a workplace, in a personal life.
03:59 And the idea of Alex coming back into her power,
04:03 but with more vulnerability,
04:05 and being able to see feminine power with vulnerability,
04:10 on top of the moral questions
04:11 that Charlotte really embedded it
04:13 for each character in the season.
04:15 I was excited to see a more raw version of Alex,
04:20 and it really, it paid off beautifully.
04:23 We know the show so well, and I'm bawling
04:25 as if I've never seen it before.
04:27 So it was very satisfying seeing that Alex and Bradley
04:29 come together at the end with vulnerability,
04:31 but both powerful women.
04:33 - Hi, I'm Lauren Neustadter.
04:36 I'm an executive producer from "Hello Sunshine."
04:38 (audience applauding)
04:41 And it's so interesting because I think we all feel
04:44 so attached to all of the characters.
04:46 It's very hard to choose just one moment,
04:49 but I will say what immediately sprang to my mind
04:51 was that scene in the hallway between Bradley and Corey.
04:55 I have loved watching them over the three seasons,
04:57 and watching that relationship,
04:59 which I think is so singular.
05:02 And seeing these two incredibly nuanced characters
05:05 really be vulnerable with each other.
05:07 I feel like vulnerability is the word,
05:08 it's the theme up here.
05:10 But just the layers and the dynamics
05:13 of that relationship and huge kudos to Charlotte
05:17 for writing the hell out of that,
05:18 and Mimi for directing the hell out of that,
05:20 and for Reese and Billy, and what they did that day.
05:23 I'll never forget watching that scene.
05:26 And we were all, there was not a dry eye in the house,
05:28 but exactly as Kristen said, just sitting back there
05:30 and watching it for what feels like probably the 20th time.
05:34 It just makes you feel so much,
05:35 and you care so much about them.
05:37 It's just a relationship that I love.
05:39 So that was a pleasure to be a part of all the way around.
05:44 - Hi, my name's Sophie Durackoff.
05:46 I am one of the three costume designers.
05:48 (audience applauding)
05:50 Deborah's here on my left,
05:52 and Beth Lancaster is all the way up there in the back.
05:54 Give a wave, Beth.
05:55 You know, again, the scene with Billy and Reese,
06:01 I mean, being on set that day, I was a mess.
06:04 I mean, I cried for two days straight after that.
06:06 I remember walking into the elevator, pouring tears.
06:10 Billy walks in, and he was completely normal.
06:12 And I was like, how can you not be in this moment?
06:15 And that was extraordinary to see it,
06:18 'cause this is the first time I've seen it.
06:20 But I would say, you know, what was,
06:22 one of the many things that was great about this season
06:24 for me was, you know, we are a costume village.
06:27 We are a team, and it's very unusual, if ever,
06:31 to have three designers who work together
06:33 the way that we do.
06:34 And it worked so great this season.
06:37 It was such a joy, and I think it really,
06:41 you can see it in the work,
06:43 and I know we all felt it in our experience.
06:46 And to be, you know, to be part of this team,
06:49 and to have it go the way that it did,
06:52 that was something that was very, very special to me,
06:55 that I will always appreciate
06:57 that we were allowed to do that,
06:58 and it worked out the way that it did.
07:01 - Well said.
07:02 (audience laughing)
07:04 I'm Deborah McGuire.
07:06 I'm the costume designer for Alex Levy, Jennifer Aniston.
07:10 (audience applauding)
07:12 I concur with everything that Sophie just said.
07:15 It was very emotional for me watching it,
07:18 because I feel like my job, in many ways,
07:21 is kind of separated from the whole.
07:25 And for me to see this episode, and with all of you,
07:30 was very, very emotional.
07:33 In terms of the wardrobe, I have to say,
07:37 I kind of quelled from every single scene.
07:42 But the shot of her red shoes in the elevator
07:46 is pretty powerful, and she just walks into that boardroom
07:51 in that pinstripe suit, and just, I was so proud.
07:55 (audience laughing)
07:58 - I just have to say, Deborah has worked with Jen
08:00 for 25 years.
08:02 She was the costume designer on "Friends."
08:05 So Jen grew up with Deborah.
08:08 - And Sophie with Reese.
08:10 - Yep, and with Reese.
08:11 - Anyways, there's so much more I can say,
08:14 but we'll move on.
08:16 - I'm Carol Kravitz-Aikinian, and I'm one of the editors.
08:22 (audience applauding)
08:26 To try to be different than anyone else,
08:29 although I teared up a little bit, too, at the end,
08:32 of course, because I cut episode one,
08:36 episode six, and episode 10.
08:39 These episodes follow the relationship
08:43 between Alex and Paul pretty closely,
08:48 the beginning, the coming together with the interview,
08:52 and the end.
08:53 And to see their path, I remember cutting the end,
08:58 this last scene on the balcony,
09:01 and feeling really choked up when I was cutting it,
09:04 'cause I felt I had been with them,
09:07 seen how they fell in love, got together,
09:11 and then finally had to move away from each other.
09:16 And so there's a little something in me
09:18 about the two of them together that is very special.
09:22 - Hi, I'm Nelson Coates.
09:26 I'm the production designer for the show.
09:28 (audience applauding)
09:31 When we were about to start on season three,
09:36 Charlotte and Mimi and I sat outside the commissary at Sony,
09:40 and they pitched me the show because I was nervous
09:43 that I was just going to be babysitting environments
09:46 that had already been established in season two.
09:49 And I do say they threw down the gauntlet
09:52 of one of the most ambitious seasons, visually,
09:56 that I could have ever imagined,
09:58 from space to new environments
10:00 for almost all the characters.
10:02 And we were putting together presentations with pictures,
10:07 and my whole team was like,
10:09 I forgot we had done so much work on this season.
10:13 By the time you get to a season three,
10:15 usually you're kind of in a groove,
10:17 and instead, this kind of broke all the molds
10:19 for a season three, and is even bigger
10:21 than what I thought was an enormous season two.
10:24 And I am so grateful for this amazing team,
10:29 and the amazing team that stood with me
10:31 in the design aspects of the show,
10:35 because they answered every task that was thrown to them,
10:40 and not only answered it, but exceeded it.
10:42 And I'm just so gratified, professionally and personally,
10:46 to work with these people and this amazing cast.
10:49 (audience applauding)
10:51 - Hard to top that.
10:53 I'm Elmo Pons Dominic, I'm a post-production sound mixer.
10:56 As for moments, I have to go with Chip.
11:01 The Chip moment is fantastic, I'm with Mimi on that.
11:04 For sound, it was a lot of fun seeing
11:06 the conference room scene, where Jennifer Aniston
11:08 comes, pulls it together, and slams down the briefcase,
11:12 and gives you a little bit of the power
11:13 of the sound going completely away,
11:15 which is as powerful as the other direction,
11:18 with launching reporters into space, for instance.
11:21 And also, I want to say, just seeing it with a group
11:23 is a reminder of how lucky I am to be a part of this team,
11:26 and this incredible cast, and the work you all do.
11:29 So, thank you.
11:31 - Cheers.
11:31 - Cool.
11:32 (audience applauding)
11:33 - I love, I kind of forget that television's
11:36 such a solitary experience when you're watching it.
11:38 To watch it with a group is very,
11:41 I feel like such a lucky thing that you get to do,
11:44 so congratulations on that.
11:46 Charlotte, I love that you talked about how
11:48 this is essentially a love story
11:50 between two characters, two women.
11:53 And I feel like it could very easily be about competition
11:57 between two women, and so I'm curious,
11:59 how do you maintain a storyline between these two women
12:04 who do have a deep affection for each other,
12:08 without kind of leaning into maybe something
12:10 that could be easily expected of an audience,
12:13 that these two women, two powerful women,
12:15 are going to go after each other, or something like that?
12:19 - That's a great question.
12:21 I think the key thing, one, they're such different people.
12:24 They're from utterly different worlds,
12:26 so they start off yin and yang.
12:29 One is from West Virginia nowhere,
12:32 and one has just always been in that Manhattan world,
12:35 so it's kind of that opposites attract thing.
12:38 But I also think we all have someone in our lives,
12:42 if we are lucky, at least for some point in our lives,
12:44 the person who pushes us to become who we may want to become
12:50 or who we're afraid to become,
12:52 the person who holds us accountable,
12:54 who pushes us, who challenges us,
12:56 and that's what I think is so great about the relationship,
12:59 that it does have that spark to it.
13:02 They're neither catfighting
13:05 or just braiding each other's hair.
13:07 - Right, exactly.
13:09 And you're relatively new to the show.
13:13 This was your first season?
13:14 - First season. - As a showrunner.
13:17 And many of the other--
13:18 - Yes! - Yes, yes.
13:19 (audience applauding)
13:21 Many of the other EPs have been here for a long time.
13:23 I'm curious, what was it like to step into this role
13:26 and work with a group that have established
13:29 who these people are,
13:30 and did you feel like you had room to play around
13:34 with where they could go in the future,
13:39 in this third season?
13:40 Especially, I think it's also incredible
13:42 that you didn't know this was gonna be renewed
13:44 when you made it.
13:45 So the fourth season was up in the air,
13:49 so that is also, I imagine, a real balancing act
13:53 of finding how to create a season-long story
13:58 that has an ending,
14:00 but also has an open ending for the future.
14:03 It's kind of two questions, I apologize.
14:06 - No, not at all.
14:08 I think it's delicious and actually very humbling
14:13 to come into a show where someone has created a world
14:16 and people already love the characters.
14:18 Like someone has done an extraordinary,
14:22 all these people here and Carrie Aaron
14:24 have done the heavy lifting.
14:25 It's amazing.
14:26 Creation of Corey Ellison,
14:28 he's just one of the most extraordinary characters.
14:31 You just can't take your eyes off of him.
14:34 So I love being able to sort of drill down
14:37 into the DNA of the show that already existed,
14:40 but then where can we take it?
14:42 And maybe there are other ways to look at
14:46 how women struggle to have autonomy and agency
14:50 and just the issue of consent
14:51 that's even beyond a sexual consent.
14:53 Just how much money do I make?
14:54 How am I treated at work?
14:56 How do I maintain my relationships
15:01 in a way that doesn't negate me?
15:04 So all those things, I think.
15:06 And yeah, it's kind of amazing that I said,
15:10 "They're gonna go to space," and no one went,
15:12 "You're crazy."
15:14 - In episode one, you bet.
15:16 I just like, Nilsson just, yeah,
15:19 I just, I remember that day on the Sony lot.
15:20 You were just excited.
15:22 You were like someone had given you a Christmas present.
15:25 - You know, this is such an incredible cast
15:28 of incredible actors playing incredible characters,
15:31 very fun, complicated characters.
15:34 I'm curious for all the EPs here,
15:37 is there like a wishlist at the beginning of the season
15:39 of like the people that you wanna see interact?
15:42 The people you wanna maybe have a confrontation
15:45 because you know the people that you're working with
15:49 and what they can pull off as these characters.
15:52 - Well, I would say when Charlotte created
15:54 the Paul character, there was only one person
15:57 we went to and thought of, you know, John Hamm.
16:00 He was the one we didn't wanna see anybody else.
16:03 We didn't wanna get a no.
16:05 We wanted a win, and we got one.
16:07 And it was really wonderful to see that character evolve
16:12 and to see this good guy, bad guy come to a center
16:17 and molding that character was, you know,
16:21 first from the script, then directorial,
16:23 then in every way, costumes, editorial, was exceptional.
16:28 I mean, I've gotta say we have the most exceptional team.
16:33 Carol is one of the most brilliant editors
16:36 I have ever worked with, and Nelson Coates,
16:39 I've had a very long relationship with in my career.
16:42 And so coming to work is like, it is so much fun
16:45 because we get to just play.
16:47 Nelson almost didn't come back.
16:49 He said, "There's not gonna be anything to do."
16:51 And Charlotte said, "Well, we're going to space."
16:54 And how do we do that?
16:57 And it's not in the budget.
16:59 And how do we create it and how do we, you know,
17:02 make it feel authentic?
17:03 And how do we bring our characters' points of view
17:07 in that spaceship?
17:08 So it's not just a spaceship ride,
17:10 but it's character-driven.
17:12 And everybody from the costumes of our,
17:16 you know, that you designed for the spaceship.
17:18 And I mean, it's just such a collaborative team.
17:22 It truly takes a village to make any show, any movie.
17:27 Anyone who says, "I did it myself," is really, you know.
17:33 (all laughing)
17:34 Really, well, whatever.
17:35 They should just go to space.
17:37 - Go to space.
17:38 (all laughing)
17:40 - We for sure always talk about,
17:43 there's wish lists of scenes to be old school
17:48 and enjoy the pleasure of ongoing television.
17:51 You get to see Greta Lee's character evolve.
17:53 And Greta and Corey have this amazing dynamic.
17:55 Everyone sort of kind of got, not jealous of Greta,
17:58 but I think everyone wanted to,
17:59 we wanted to see her in scenes together.
18:01 And you guys can talk about, you know,
18:03 we're always discussing Alex and Bradley both together
18:07 and who are they pairing with at the right time
18:10 and kind of milking it for, yeah, everything it's worth.
18:13 And it's just an insanely brilliant cast.
18:17 And so mixing and matching,
18:18 everyone can go head to head.
18:21 Giuliana, this was not unique,
18:22 but like that Giuliana scene with Reese,
18:25 their kind of below out scene, you know,
18:27 they've had this beautiful dance with each other
18:30 for a couple of years,
18:31 and they've been tough with each other,
18:33 but never like that, you know?
18:35 And so there's part of the pleasure
18:37 is working on the show as you get to there,
18:38 these tentpole scenes that you're kind of waiting for,
18:41 and then you get to them and then you're on the floor
18:44 and they're kind of like act offs with,
18:46 and in a very collaborative supportive way,
18:50 like I think everyone feels safe to just go for it
18:53 and kind of trust that between the writing
18:56 and the direction, like they're gonna, you know,
18:59 and Carol's nodding, they'll be protected, you know?
19:02 - Yeah, and I think, I mean,
19:03 one wishlist was Marcia Gay Harden for sure, right?
19:06 To bring Marcia Gay back for a scene
19:08 that you would not expect, right?
19:10 The trying to subvert the expectation
19:13 and like, what would it look like
19:14 if Marcia Gay's character had a little bit of an evolution
19:18 and Alex is evolving as well,
19:20 and how did these two women now relate to one another?
19:24 We love that scene and Marcia Gay is so brilliant.
19:26 So that was really fun.
19:27 And I think, yeah, we wanted to also bring forward
19:30 the women of color on our show
19:31 and start to tell more of their story.
19:33 It was a big conversation we had, you know, Karen Pittman,
19:37 and we wanna see more Greta Lee,
19:39 if only to see her costumes.
19:40 She has the coolest wardrobe.
19:43 And so that was a big piece too,
19:45 like getting to know Karen Pittman's character,
19:47 that she sleeps at the office,
19:48 that this woman like lives and breathes her work,
19:51 but yet see a little bit of her attempt
19:53 to have a personal life and how messy that was.
19:56 So that was part of the wishlist.
19:57 - Going into the season, I don't think we would have
19:59 predicted like a signature scene
20:01 would be Nicole Bihari and Holland Taylor, right?
20:03 - Holland Taylor, Holland Taylor.
20:04 - And it was like, you know, sort of definitive, sorry.
20:07 - And Tig Notaro.
20:08 I think, you know, there's nobody
20:10 that makes me laugh like Tig,
20:11 but she's so amazing in this dramatic turn.
20:15 And the other thing that I was gonna say is I do think,
20:17 just to answer your question about
20:19 what do we really talk about and what do we think about,
20:21 I think there's great intention
20:23 when it comes to the scenes between Alex and Bradley.
20:26 We always talk about sort of putting them together
20:30 for moments when there will be absolute electricity, right?
20:33 Because you don't want to, if you take it for granted,
20:35 if you do it too often, it really loses its magic.
20:39 And I think it's a thing that whether it's conscious
20:42 or subconscious, I do think that our audience
20:44 really looks forward to the times
20:46 when those two women come together.
20:48 And I think it is something behind the scenes
20:50 that we are always talking about.
20:52 And we're sort of saying, okay, if we're doing it,
20:54 how are we really doing it?
20:55 And what's it gonna really be about?
20:57 And I think there's just a lot of intention
20:59 that goes behind that.
20:59 And it's always such a gratifying conversation
21:02 that we are all in together.
21:04 - Absolutely.
21:05 Talking about these confrontations,
21:08 these tough conversations between characters,
21:10 very curious how it works from an editor's perspective
21:14 of putting those conversations together.
21:16 And even from sound, I mean, you know,
21:18 how you create the tension in your role as an editor,
21:23 because I feel like that's something, you know--
21:27 - Well, I can tell you it's very enjoyable.
21:28 - Yeah, I imagine, yeah.
21:29 - The more tension, the better.
21:31 You take your cue and read them from the performances.
21:33 Obviously, that's what sort of tells me,
21:38 that first intuitive pass that we do editors with a scene
21:42 is kind of a response to what we see on the screen
21:46 and the way the actors
21:49 have, what have they done with the scene
21:51 and the way it's shot.
21:51 So it's a very first intuitive pass,
21:55 which then goes through many, many more passes,
21:59 obviously with different--
22:01 - You're being humble.
22:02 I think you're being humble, Carol.
22:04 I mean, Mimi can speak more to it,
22:05 but you really, when you're crafting your scenes,
22:09 there's a, you're trying to mine
22:12 like the deepest emotional truth.
22:14 And that doesn't mean it's always the biggest take,
22:16 but there's something special about how you craft it
22:18 that you're, there's an, you have an intuitive emotional
22:21 hold on these characters that your first passes,
22:26 there's a magic always to it.
22:27 - And music, and music.
22:29 You're so good with music.
22:30 - Oh, thank you.
22:32 - Like she, when you, Mimi and Carol
22:35 do amazing things with music.
22:36 Mimi, you talk about that 'cause you're in there.
22:39 - You know, Carol always surprises me
22:41 in the finale in the first season,
22:44 in the scene where Alex is coming down the elevator
22:48 and Chip is going up.
22:50 So I came in to see the cut and she put in,
22:53 I forgot what it's called, this incredible opera piece.
22:56 And I was just sobbing.
22:57 I was so, ah, it was just everything.
23:00 And then we put more opera in--
23:04 - Yeah, Vivaldi.
23:05 - Vivaldi in--
23:07 - The end of--
23:08 - In the end, during a fight, a fist fight,
23:10 a ridiculous fist fight with Mitch and Chip.
23:13 And this year we did it in the spacecraft
23:18 that Nelson so beautifully and brilliantly designed.
23:22 And it was, it just brings it to another level,
23:26 the music, and especially the music
23:29 that Carol has this encyclopedic mind of music.
23:33 We have a great music supervisor, but oftentimes, Carol--
23:37 - We work together.
23:38 - Yes, of course.
23:39 And it is a collaboration.
23:40 - I kind of know what I'm looking for
23:41 and they help me find it, so.
23:43 But what's really wonderful about working with Carol
23:47 and knowing the arcs of the character
23:50 and mining those tonally from the first episode
23:54 all the way to the end, and to craft those performances
23:59 editorially, directorially.
24:03 And that just goes all the way down to,
24:06 or up to the costumes, the texture, the colors,
24:09 the palette, the lighting.
24:11 And it's all just one big souffle.
24:14 It's incredible.
24:15 - Speaking of the costumes, I think it's interesting
24:16 we see Alex and Bradley at very high moments,
24:19 very low moments.
24:21 I'm curious how you use the character where they are
24:24 and how that informs the costumes
24:26 when you're dressing them in those scenes.
24:29 - I mean, that's really what we do.
24:31 Like, that is at the crux of our job
24:33 is this interpretation of what is going on in the moment
24:35 and what is organic to the character.
24:37 And it's interesting in our show
24:39 because obviously everybody is at work a lot.
24:43 And with those two in particular,
24:46 the anchors have three different layers
24:50 of how they present to the world.
24:52 They have anchor, they have presentation
24:54 when they're going out and they're going for dinner
24:55 and they know they're gonna be seen by paparazzi
24:57 and then they've got their very most private moments.
25:01 And so it's always, it's the balance
25:04 of finding those rhythms within the script
25:08 and within what is going on with the plot.
25:10 And then, you know, working together
25:14 to keep the characters separate and distinct,
25:17 but yet in harmony so that nothing is ever bumping
25:21 and you're not asking any questions.
25:23 And so it just all seems that the flow is working.
25:26 That's the best way that I can describe it.
25:29 - No, I think that's right.
25:30 And I mean, there are some, you know,
25:32 like the scene with the girls going into the,
25:35 turning Bradley in.
25:37 I mean, we really thought about that.
25:39 That was really an important scene
25:42 for how the two of them looked and felt,
25:47 because we, you know, it's such an emotional scene
25:52 that in a way it has to be blank
25:57 because we have to see them completely them.
26:02 And so I was really happy to see that
26:05 because I felt like we had accomplished that.
26:08 And that was a difficult one to sort of figure out,
26:12 but I thought it worked beautifully.
26:14 And, you know, we have those situations often.
26:17 And, you know, sometimes it's just a matter
26:22 of synchronicity with us together, Sophie and I.
26:26 We have a real sense of our characters
26:29 and it just, it's kind of, there's a magical piece to it
26:32 that just sort of takes over.
26:35 And I think also when you get into the third season,
26:38 which, you know, I came from features,
26:39 I didn't come from TV,
26:41 so this was a big learning curve for me.
26:42 But, you know, what I really understand now
26:45 is that when you, the further into the seasons you go,
26:49 there's a very much, there's a visual shorthand.
26:53 You're establishing a visual language with the palette,
26:57 with the silhouettes, with the ideas
26:59 and the conceits behind everything.
27:00 And I think sometimes it's hard for me
27:02 to articulate the process
27:03 because it's become such second nature now,
27:07 because it's an unspoken language
27:09 is what you're kind of ending up with.
27:12 Nelson, sort of a similar question for you.
27:13 You know, you are designing spaces
27:16 that are basically character spaces.
27:19 You're also recreating real places like the Capitol.
27:23 You're going into space.
27:24 I mean, how do you, what's your approach to those settings?
27:29 And is it, you know, is it more of a challenge
27:31 to kind of create something through the eyes of a character
27:35 and who represents where they live or where they are
27:39 versus, you know, recreating a space
27:41 that maybe all of us have seen before?
27:43 There's kind of a duality going on.
27:45 There is the look of the show
27:47 that I've really kind of embraced and pulled my arms around
27:52 so that everything fits into the language of the show.
27:54 And then there's the language of each of the characters.
27:57 And I think one of the exciting things about this season
28:00 more so than previously
28:02 was really drilling into personal spaces
28:04 and trying to find geolocated neighborhoods
28:08 for each of the characters.
28:10 Where are they in New York?
28:12 Where are their usual paths?
28:14 What would be in their apartment?
28:15 The coffee place they go to, all those little details.
28:19 So if you actually watch without the sound, forgive me.
28:21 (audience laughing)
28:24 But if you watch without the sound,
28:26 all of a sudden you see all sorts of things
28:29 that are related to each of the characterizations.
28:32 Also something you're probably not aware of
28:34 is when I get scripts,
28:35 there's an approximate timeframe that we talk about.
28:38 It's March or it's, you know, this holiday or something.
28:42 But we're trying to create a through line
28:44 to the corporate culture too.
28:45 So their show posters are changing.
28:48 They're, you know, I beg our teams
28:51 to get actors in for photo shoots.
28:54 And they're like, "What are they for?"
28:56 And you're like, well,
28:57 they were gonna use these as a standee.
28:59 It's going to be this special thing
29:00 that helps evolve the marketing
29:03 and the timeframe that's visual.
29:05 So you're driving a huge graphic component to the show.
29:10 All the stuff that's happening on the screens,
29:13 on every monitor, all has to be designed and sourced
29:17 or created from scratch.
29:19 So it's like doing multiple shows at the same time.
29:22 - But was there a particular challenge for you from,
29:24 you know, maybe the biggest challenge for you this season?
29:27 I mean, was it something as big as the insurrection
29:32 or is it something as small
29:33 as a conversation between two characters?
29:36 - Interestingly, I think that sometimes
29:38 those are the more difficult things
29:39 or the quieter moments for us,
29:41 because you're very exposed.
29:43 You know, sound, we're able to help establish
29:49 not just locations and expand locations maybe sometimes,
29:52 make spaces bigger than they are,
29:54 but also we're able, I think,
29:57 to help shift the focus at times.
30:00 So if you're in the middle of something
30:02 that's a little more intimate,
30:04 making things sort of recede into the background
30:07 sometimes helps with that.
30:09 So it's a challenge in a lot of ways, I think,
30:11 'cause we've had a little bit of everything.
30:13 We've launched people into space.
30:14 We've had the insurrection.
30:16 We've had some very personal, quiet, you know,
30:19 moments between people.
30:20 We've had arguments.
30:21 There's a lot of challenges in the show,
30:24 so it's been a lot of fun, honestly.
30:26 - To talk about kind of the insurrection,
30:31 also you depict the Dobbs ruling in the show,
30:36 I'm curious how you decide what are kind of
30:39 the real life recent history
30:43 that you wanna explore on the show
30:45 versus kind of creating new characters,
30:47 new maybe conflicts that everyone has experienced,
30:52 fictional conflicts,
30:54 and how you balance those two things.
30:56 - Certainly when we started the season three room,
31:02 we were one of the first in-person rooms back.
31:05 Most of the rooms were still Zoom,
31:07 and just a bunch of people sitting in a room together
31:11 for eight hours was really weird
31:14 'cause people hadn't been doing,
31:15 so everyone was very raw,
31:17 and we'd all been through this crazy, tumultuous time
31:20 where you didn't know if you should wipe your groceries down,
31:23 if you hugged somebody, was it gonna kill you?
31:25 Like it was such a, is the election legitimate?
31:28 Is it a hoax?
31:29 You know, like it was such a tumultuous time,
31:32 so we felt like we had to kind of address
31:36 some of these big things that everyone had lived through,
31:39 but what I always look for is,
31:40 and I think, again, taking it off,
31:42 seasons one and two, taking off, you know,
31:44 Carrie Erin's template,
31:47 you're always looking for what are the real life
31:49 external events that are mirrors to the character's journey?
31:53 So you might not include things
31:55 that are incredibly important in the world,
31:57 but aren't really relevant to what Alex needs
32:00 to learn this season, or you know,
32:02 what is Bradley's crucible for this season?
32:06 So it's really about the characters.
32:08 We call them sort of thematic beds,
32:10 the real life events,
32:12 since they're always kind of reflecting back,
32:14 and that's kind of how we decide.
32:16 - Yeah, from a producer's standpoint,
32:18 are those kind of terrifying things to imagine recreating?
32:22 Is it exciting to, I mean, you've,
32:25 well, I think you were, Lauren,
32:26 you were talking about just how strange it was
32:29 to recreate the insurrection.
32:31 I mean, was that something that you were kind of expecting
32:34 to be weird, or did it kind of, at the moment,
32:36 just feel like, oh God, this is eerie?
32:39 - It's interesting,
32:39 because I don't think we really thought about it,
32:42 and then we walked into that building,
32:44 and we were like, oh my goodness,
32:46 and it was just an out-of-body experience,
32:51 and obviously it was so emotional for Reese,
32:54 for Joe Tippett, for all of us in Video Village.
32:58 You know, it just, I do think this show
33:01 has an unbelievable way of bringing you
33:05 into these moments that feel so defining for all of us,
33:09 and I think it's a huge credit to the writers.
33:12 I just don't, I mean, I stand in awe of the gift
33:15 of imagining these things, and I also,
33:17 we sort of talk amongst ourselves about the clairvoyance
33:20 of Charlotte and of Carrie Aaron,
33:23 because I do think, you know, if you guys notice
33:26 when you watch this show, it's like,
33:29 God, how did they know that was gonna happen?
33:31 And the answer is, I don't know,
33:33 you guys are so brilliant, but we do talk about,
33:36 you know, the fact that this show is a lot of art
33:38 imitating life, but almost anticipating life
33:41 in a pretty interesting way.
33:44 - Yeah, I mean, the Dobbs leak is an interesting thing
33:48 that maybe Charlotte can talk more about,
33:50 but I remember working on that script,
33:52 and how, again, surreal, you know,
33:55 we're experiencing this in real time,
33:58 but we're also working on a script about it
34:00 at the same time, because we had already anticipated,
34:05 you know, doing something in this arena,
34:07 having no idea the Dobbs leak was gonna happen,
34:09 but doing something in this arena,
34:11 and juxtaposing, you know, fashion week
34:15 with the autonomy of women, and suddenly,
34:18 then Dobbs lands, you know, on our phones,
34:22 and it was just, you know, a gut punch,
34:24 and yet, we've gotta, like, keep going,
34:26 and do the script, like, develop the script,
34:30 and integrate it in, which you did beautifully,
34:32 but you already had the place for it in the script.
34:36 - That was the craziest, craziest thing.
34:39 It was just, bizarrely, the episode was waiting for that.
34:43 - Right. - It was waiting
34:43 for the leak, because it really was an episode
34:46 about all these different generations of women
34:49 trying to control their lives, you know,
34:52 that Corey's mother, I had always imagined her
34:54 as someone just kind of exhausted by patriarchy,
34:58 like, she's at the beginning of Ro,
35:01 and at the end of Ro, you know,
35:03 and she's just tried to push things forward,
35:05 and now she's seeing it slide back,
35:06 and I think that's part of her, you know,
35:08 the kind of melancholy that she carries,
35:12 but I have to say it, 'cause I just have to,
35:15 it thrills me, we were told that the two reporters
35:20 at Politico who received the leaked ruling,
35:25 and/or the ruling, and then leaked it,
35:27 or put the story out, watched the episode,
35:30 and said, "Yeah, good job," and that was,
35:34 that blew my mind, I mean, speaking of art,
35:36 imitating life, like, it was, you know,
35:38 and of course I just wanted to ask, so,
35:41 how'd you get it?
35:42 - Yeah, yeah, did they tell you?
35:44 I mean, is that cathartic in a way,
35:47 to kind of write through something
35:49 that I think affects so many of us?
35:52 I mean, even writing about the insurrection,
35:54 I feel like processing that in an artistic way,
35:58 I don't know, is it therapeutic in a way, I don't know.
36:01 - There are some therapeutic aspects,
36:03 and I have to say, Chris, in her extraordinary
36:08 Valentino pink gown, just having a meltdown
36:12 in the bathroom, I sort of needed that, you know,
36:15 I just needed someone to just be that mad.
36:19 - That was fun, deciding what she would write
36:20 on the mirror, do you remember?
36:22 - Yes, we had a whole-- - We were texting
36:23 for days, like, how about this?
36:24 - We took about a month.
36:27 - Well, to wrap things up, I'm sure you can't tell me
36:30 too much about season four, but I'm very curious,
36:33 I mean, just, let's speak as fans of the show,
36:37 what you're kind of excited, or maybe what you hope to see
36:41 in season four, if we can put it that way.
36:44 You don't have to reveal anything.
36:45 (laughing)
36:46 - Yeah, I was just like, does anybody else have any?
36:48 I think we need to see the consequences of episode 310,
36:53 you know, we need to see how that plays out,
36:55 and maybe it'll play out in a way that's rather unexpected.
36:58 - I'm excited to see what happens
37:01 when women are actually in power,
37:03 and how they handle it, and what mistakes they make,
37:08 and what they learn from it, you know,
37:10 it'll be interesting to see, you know,
37:12 Alex has been fighting for power,
37:14 fighting to be at the head of that boardroom table,
37:18 and she claimed her place, kind of as a really nice parallel
37:21 to Mimi's brilliant way of shooting the red dress,
37:25 when she basically told the bozos
37:28 she's not letting them call the shots anymore,
37:31 and seeing women in power now in this next season,
37:33 I'm excited to see what Charlotte does with that,
37:37 the complexity of that.
37:38 - We blew it all up, so it's kind of exciting
37:41 to see what happens next, we're as curious as you.
37:44 - Whoops.
37:45 - Well, I mean, it's a good place to end,
37:47 and start anew, yeah.
37:49 (audience applauding)
37:50 Thank you all for joining us,
37:52 congratulations on this incredible season,
37:55 thank you again. - Thank you so much.
37:56 - Thanks, thanks everybody.
37:57 - Thank you.
37:58 (audience applauding)
38:01 Thank you.
38:03 [MUSIC]